Sachi, A Completely New Kind of Asian Bistro Is Easy On The Eyes, Delicious on the Tongue and Wow What Service

Sachi is located at 713 Second Avenue at 38th Street, 212-297-1883, www.sachinyc.com and is open seven days a week, Mon-Fri, 12-3pm (lunch), 5-11:30pm (dinner), Sat, 12-11:30pm and Sun 12-11pm. Takeout, delivery and weekend traditional dim sum brunch with pushcarts are coming soon. Sachi is available for private parties and special events. For more information, contact David Chan.

From the Creative Minds of Chefs Pichet Ong and Andy Yang

Sachi is a completely new kind of Asian bistro, offering fun and inventive interpretations of authentic Asian cuisine with a menu created by Pichet Ong, a multiple James Beard Award nominee and culinary consultant specializing in menu development, and Andy Yang, creator of Rhong-Tiam, the first Thai restaurant in the U.S. to receive a Michelin star. Sachi’s menu features familiar street food and classic dishes that have been elevated with the finest ingredients and re-imagined with personal twists that surprise, ranging from dim sum to noodles, Grade-A sushi and sashimi, to entrees with influences and inspirations from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore—all designed to be shared.

Inspired by the Southeast Asian cooking they grew up on and their travels around the world, Yang and Ong bring us healthy, inspired versions of authentic Asian foods, using high heat and little oil. Yang, known for his spicy, multi-layered Thai food, comes up with an idea for a dish, and then Ong twists it around, adding unusual accents or a surprising dipping sauce, always ensuring that it all works together. The result is power food—clean and light—that gives you energy and nourishment, but is always delicious and deeply satisfying, accessible and affordable.

Management powerhouse David Chan of the Amber Group, who has opened 15 successful restaurants, heads the team as General Manager. Thoroughly knowledgeable about all aspects of food, beverage, and service, his greatest strength is building strong teams and empowering them through leadership, example, and inspiring service and hospitality. One of the strengths of this team is that many of the members have worked well and closely together in the past.

To design the interior, Chan brought in Phakkapol Pasuthip, a trained architect and interior designer from Thailand, who also designed Yang’s Rhong-Tiam. Using existing elements from the restaurant that formerly occupied the space, he completely reimagined it. Reflecting the logo of the restaurant, the design embodies the number 8, a symbol of good luck. From the front of the restaurant, the eye is drawn from the miniature Tibetan twin pixiu statues at the entrance to the life-size twin forms (also symbols of good luck) set against the stone waterfall wall in back, creating a sense of perspective. Strong vertical lines in dark-stained pine wood panels extend across the space, producing a clean, sophisticated and calming atmosphere, while also dividing the space to create a sense of intimacy for each group of diners, seated on red banquettes. The zinc-topped bar with a golden patina, is lined with green-beige stone.

Guests will be familiar with each dish by name, but pleasantly “wowed” by how it tastes. For an example from the dim sum menu: shrimp toast, a far cry from the pallid pu-pu platter,is firmly packed with delicious, flavorful sweet fresh shrimp and crunchy water chestnuts. Char Siu Duck Buns give stiff competition to even the best steamed pork bun. Filled with duck meat, they are delicately seasoned with lightly sweet barbecue marmalade and shallots. Stuffed eggplant, served piping hot and crispy on the outside, filled with pork, shrimp, mushrooms and scallions, is tender on the inside. (All dim sum are served with a choice of three sauces, sophisticated flavor-packed, super fresh versions of the familiar—suca, soy vinaigrette; rau ram Vietnamese coriander-ginger scallion oil; and gochujang sambal, an Asian sweet-hot sauce.)

Inventive starters borrow from different cultures: Eel tacos turn the familiar eel avocado roll on its side, filling a soft taco wrapper with barbecued eel, cucumber, sesame and soy barbecue sauce. Uni Chawanmushi is a beautiful rendition of delicate silky egg custard, served warm and embedded with sea urchin, crab and mushroom. While Teriyaki Octopus changes your perception of both teriyaki and octopus, with tender tentacles flavored with orange and kaffir lime, accompanied by spiced sweet potatoes. Even simple Tomato Egg Drop Soup is transformed: the tomatoes are slow-roasted, the base broth is made from organic chicken bones for much more intense flavors.

Meat and fish entrees shake up your taste buds. A classic Vietnamese beef stir-fry, Bo Luc Lac, is prepared with the classic sauce but substitutes the finest rib eye and blistered shishito peppers. Lemongrass Poussin is brined, slow-cooked with circulated air in the combi oven for evenly cooked juicy meat, and finished with a blast of heat to make the skin crisp, and served with Asian greens and black rice. And the Lobster Roll is an Asian-influenced reinvention of the classic American, with miso brown butter, crispy bacon and yucca fries.

Noodle and rice dishes are mind-blowing in both their simplicity and in the amazing flavor profiles: Chicken Lo Mein is prepared with house-made hand-pulled noodles, high quality soy sauce and house made tofu; Dan Dan Duck Ramen is prepared with a spicy duck ragu, Sichuan peppercorn, tofu and duck crackling over toothsome noodles; and Oink Oink Oink Fried Rice has the flavor of wok hay (the breath of the wok) infusing the rice and the three kinds of pork—pork belly, Chinese sausage, and bacon.

Creative sushi and sashimi rounds out the menu with inventive sushi rolls such as breakfast futomaki, inspired by a New York favorite (bagels and lox) with salmon, tamagoyaki, cream cheese and red onion in a soy paper wrapper; scallop and crisp bacon rolled together with pineapple and vanilla caramel; and eel and buffalomozzarella with radish greens and heirloom tomatoes. But you’ll also find classic sushi and sashimi by the piece or by the platter.

The desserts are all Pichet Ong with wonderful Asian accents. Notably famous for his desserts at Spice Market, Rick Moonen’s RM and Jean Georges, named one of the Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America by Pastry Arts & Design and Chocolatier, and was selected as a “Pastry Provocateur” by Food & Wine, Ong has come up withcompletely original creations for Sachi. They include: caramelized ginger custard with brown sugar, orange and graham cracker; sesame and milk chocolate ice box cake; and yuzu meringue pie with condensed milk and coconut cookie crumbs.

Sachi’s cocktails are designed by veteran mixologist Jason Walsh, alum of several of New York City’s most acclaimed bars and restaurants including Monkey Bar, Bistro La Promenade, Bouley and Bea, who has been published in several leading publications, including the Wall Street Journal. Walsh has developed a unique cocktail list with a culinary perspective to match that of Sachi: Cocktails represent twists on classics, which will be recognizable but designed with a slightly new dimension. Specialty cocktails include Gun Powder Bramble, smoky with Lapsang souchong tea-infused bourbon, blackberry liqueur, fresh pressed lemon juice, served over crushed ice, and the Mehkong Martinez, complex with Thai sugar cane rum, Noilly Prat sweet vermouth, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, Regan’s orange bitters, served up, and The Jade Lantern, bright green and bracing with vodka, Matcha green tea, lemon juice and mint leaves, shaken and served over ice.

The wine list focuses on wines that pair well with Asian flavors, sparkling wines such as Prosecco and Cloud Chaser rosé, as well as several other options by the glass: whites such as Marlborough Estate Reserve Sauvignon Blanc and Urban Nik Weis Riesling, and reds like J. Lohr’s Falcon Perch Pinot Noir and Firestone’s Merlot, as well as a selection of bottles. There’s also a selection of sakes such as Osakaya Chobei Daiginjo, and Ozeki Nigori Junmai, plum wine and beers on draft such as Sapporo, Angry Orchard Cider, Southampton Double White, as well as a selection of Asian, domestic and European bottled beers.

Service is outstanding: knowledgeable, attentive and caring. And Here is the place to enjoy creative cocktails. They are what most are not: delicious and potent.